China Ex-Rail Chief Given Suspended Death Sentence for Bribery

By Bloomberg News -
Jul 8, 2013

China’s former railway minister was
given a suspended death sentence for abuse of power and taking
bribes, making him the highest-raking official convicted since
Xi Jinping took over the Communist Party last year.

Liu Zhijun, 60, will be deprived of political rights for
life and all his property will be confiscated, the official
Xinhua News Agency said today, citing the Beijing No. 2
Intermediate People’s Court. Under Chinese law, his death
sentence may be reduced to life imprisonment for good behavior.

The punishment completes the downfall of an official whose
case symbolized the corruption that accompanied the roll-out of
the world’s biggest high-speed rail network. Allegations of
graft surrounding the rail construction, along with a 2011
bullet-train crash that killed 40 people, reflect broader
concern over the quality of China’s infrastructure expansion.

While Liu is the highest-level official to be sentenced
since President Xi Jinping announced an anti-graft campaign last
year, the former minister was ousted from his post in 2011, when
President Hu Jintao was still in power.

Former Politburo member Bo Xilai, removed from the
Communist Party last year, is awaiting trial on bribery and
abuse of power charges. Chen Tonghai, former chairman of China
Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (386), received a suspended death penalty
in 2009 for taking 196 million yuan in bribes.

The presiding judge in the case said Liu confessed to his
crimes and cooperated along with his family in retrieving the
bribes, Xinhua said today. Liu had a good attitude and showed
repentance during his trial, according to the report.

Not Necessary

“Taking all the facts of the whole case and Liu’s relevant
behavior into consideration, the court holds that an immediate
execution is not necessary,” Xinhua reported, citing the
judge’s ruling.

Liu was charged with accepting 64.6 million yuan ($10.5
million) in bribes between 1986 and 2011, Xinhua said. He was
among the highest ranked Chinese officials to face charges until
the downfall of Politburo member Bo Xilai, the Chongqing
Communist Party secretary who is awaiting trial.

China’s Communist Party has called corruption one of the
biggest threats to its legitimacy. In a meeting of the ruling
Politburo last month, Xi said high-level officials should
strictly manage their relatives and their staff and refrain from
abuse of power, the People’s Daily newspaper reported in June.